The new Pädagogik-Kolleg (Preparatory Programme for University Studies in Education) aims to overcome the hurdles that make it difficult for migrants to enter the teaching profession. The project’s leaders have learned from experience what kind of support is really helpful.

For more than two decades, the University of Oldenburg has been helping prospective and trained professionals from abroad to gain a foothold in education-related professions in Germany with its contact programme Pedagogical Competencies in the Migration Society. Now the university is expanding its activities in this area and consolidating them under the aegis of a preparatory training and counselling programme aimed at facilitating the qualification of migrants in education-related professions funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Ayça Polat, Professor of Social Pedagogy in the Migration Society, and educationalist Iris Gereke head the new programme. In this interview they talk about what it will have to offer.

The Pädagogik-Kolleg will be the central coordination and contact point for the qualification courses. What are you hoping to achieve with this project?

Ayça Polat: The Pädagogik-Kolleg will have a dedicated team tasked with establishing and maintaining a network of ministries, supporting institutions, advice centres and other actors in the education and social work sector. This is a very important component of our work.

Iris Gereke: Oldenburg is the obvious and ideal location for this. The university has been one of Germany’s leading institutions in the area for academic qualification programs for migrants for at least 30 years – always with a strong practical orientation. In addition, it has a long tradition in the field of teacher training and pedagogics. Last but not least, with our Centre for Migration, Education and Cultural Studies, Centre for lifelong Learning (C3L), and Centre for Teacher Education (DiZ) we already have an excellent infrastructure.

How many people are living in Germany who have a foreign degree or training in the field of education that is not recognised by the Federal Republic of Germany?

Polat: Unfortunately, no exact figures are available on this. In 2021, however, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) estimated that a large proportion of kindergarten teachers (79 percent), teachers (85 percent) and social workers (58 percent) have foreign qualifications which have not been recognised as equivalent to date. This is particularly striking in light of the fact that, according to figures from the Competence Centre for Securing a Skilled Workforce, more than five out of ten vacant positions in the “health, social work, teaching and education” sector could not be filled last year.

People who work in the education sector and have a migration background are often trusted more by other people with a similar background because of their shared experiences.

What potential do you see here for our education system?

Polat: People who work in the education sector and have a migration background are often trusted more by other people with a similar background because of their shared experiences. Then there’s their language skills – being able to speak Arabic or Turkish, for example, is also very helpful. In addition, teachers who have immigrated to Germany from another country are often seen as role models by young people from migrant families.

The existing contact programme Pedagogical Competencies in the Migration Society will continue and be integrated into the new Pädagogik-Kolleg. Who is this programme aimed at?

Gereke: Almost all the participants in this advanced training programme have either completed or at least started a degree in their country of origin before coming to Germany. Many also have professional experience in the field of education. However, we also have participants who are completely new to this field. From orchestra conductors to lawyers and university lecturers – a wide range of professions are represented in the programme. What they all have in common is that they want to work (or continue to work) in a teaching profession.

Polat: After completing the contact programme some participants go straight on to work as teachers or social workers. Others – in fact most of them – go on to study education or a related subject, in many cases the bachelor’s degree Pedagogic Acting in the Migration Society offered by our university. So this programme clearly opens up opportunities and pathways for migrants who already have qualifications and want to work in Germany’s education or social sector.

What makes the contact programme special?

Gereke: This programme is almost unique in Germany – and the demand for places is very high. It also has a remarkably low drop-out rate of less than ten percent. We attribute this not only to the programme’s content and a consistently appreciative attitude, but also to the fact that people with similar experiences and from similar backgrounds come together here and support each other when things are not going so well. The participants often still benefit years later in their professional lives from the special network that is formed here.

In 2025, a new course will be launched under the auspices of the Pädagogik-Kolleg – a supplementary programme called Fundamentals of the Welfare State, Social Law and Family Law. What is it about?

Polat: It will focus on teaching the legal foundations for educational work in Germany. This plays a particularly important role in the area of social work. We have observed that study modules in this area, with their complex legal content and bureaucratic language – which even many Germans have difficulties understanding – pose a major hurdle for migrants. Quite a few fail to complete adaptation courses leading to the recognition of qualifications and degree programmes in the field of pedagogy and social work because of this. With this supplementary programme, we want to make it easier for them to gain a foothold in this subject area.

Gereke: Because quite often foreign students need to complete a module in the area of law to fulfil the requirements for recognition of their qualification. This is where we come in. We coordinate the content of our courses with the other universities in the region. Our aim is for the programme to be recognised as a module in law for international students who intend to study for a degree in education or social work.

We are focusing not just on academics from abroad who are interested in working in education here in Germany, but also on the relevant authorities, job centres and employers

There are also plans to set up a central subject-specific advice centre for Lower Saxony and Bremen under the organisational umbrella of the Pädagogik-Kolleg.

Polat: Research has shown that the first three years are crucial for migrants entering the labour market. The longer the formal recognition or qualification process takes, the more difficult it becomes to access the skilled labour market. We hope that improved counselling at an earlier stage will accelerate these processes and avoid unnecessary waiting times. The bureaucracy that such recognition processes entail is a burden for everyone involved. Many migrants have bad experiences with the German authorities, for example when they go to the job centre but no one is able to help them, or they are placed in jobs for which they are overqualified.

Gereke: For this reason we are focusing not just on academics from abroad who are interested in working in education here in Germany, but also on the relevant authorities, job centres and employers. There is often a great need for advice here when it comes to the formal recognition of foreign qualifications. Questions such as “What qualifications do migrants have?”, “How do we assess them?” and “How can we help them to find a job that matches their qualifications?” arise. Negative experiences can contribute to a sense of insecurity or inferiority and have a discouraging effect. We want to counteract this with our specialised advice centre and the other elements of the Pädagogik-Kolleg, and we can draw on many years of experience to do this.

Interview: Henning Kulbarsch